


taking care

by Inthesewords



Series: the long road [4]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, post-ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inthesewords/pseuds/Inthesewords
Summary: “I hope you know I do have your back. And maybe one day I’ll have your trust, too.”Or: the little ways in which Carol and Daryl take care of each other.Season 2/3 Interlude and Post-ep for 3.06 “Hounded”
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier
Series: the long road [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976890
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	taking care

The weeks after the farm are a daily slog. Wake up, eat whatever was scrounged the day before, pull together meager belongings, hit the road, see what they can find, find a place to bed down, repeat. The group gets the routine down. 

After a few days of this, Daryl and Carol have a routine too.

In the afternoons, they sneak away for some fighting practice. The others --Beth, Carl, Lori-- start to learn too, but they quickly found that Daryl didn’t have the patience of Rick or T-Dog to teach them, and Carol was too afraid of failing to learn from anyone else. The new arrangement happens naturally.

They start with knives and some basic self-defense, before moving onto walkers (arms and mouths removed by Daryl, for safety), and eventually shooting. 

She’s not a natural by any stretch of the imagination.

Still, a few weeks in, she asks to learn about hunting and trapping too. “Ain’t got nothin’ better to do”, he replies. “Just don’t scare off the game.”

He should’ve known better, though, because she’s as quiet as a mouse, eager to learn and not let him down.

“Let’s start with traps,” he says when they’ve made it a good distance into the woods from their latest shelter. “Rick says he thinks we’ll stay at this house for a little bit, so it’ll be the easiest way to get some food.”

She watches intently as he sets one up. Daryl helps her do the next one, and then observes as she does the third one on her own. She looks up at him shyly, seeking his approval. He leans forward to examine it from where he kneels by the tree beside her, and tries to suppress a proud grin.

“Damn,” he says after letting out a whistle. “You’re gettin’ good at this. Maybe this was a bad idea, soon you’re gonna replace me.”

She beams as she leans back, sitting on her heels. “Trust me, that will never happen. I’m just around to cook, clean, and, if possible, not die. Being able to help you tie a knot sometimes is just a bonus.” Her smile morphs into something a bit more fragile. “You’re still the most important person here.”

He looks at her then, only a foot apart from him, and wants to respond. Wants to tell her that she’s important too, but his mouth suddenly feels dry. In the sunlight filtered through the trees, her eyes look impossibly blue. The air between them feels thick. His pulse quickens, and he sees those same blue eyes widen before she springs up.

“Daryl, behind you!”

His heart stops and he snaps his head just in time to see a small group of walkers heading toward them, one just as close to him as she was a moment ago. It comes at him, and as Daryl jumps up and steps back, his foot catches on a tree root, throwing off his balance and he falls, hitting the side of his head hard against the tree.

The last thing he sees is Carol surrounded by walkers.

He comes to, disoriented, and after a moment he tries to scramble up from where he’s apparently laid out on the ground, a pack beneath him.

“Hey— hey, careful there, don’t move too much. You’re safe.”

He turns to where he hears her voice, to his right, to find Carol crouched down on the ground peering at him with a wet piece of cloth in her hand. She looks relieved.

She blows out a breath. “Thank god. How’re you feeling?”

Although he’s still sluggish, he manages to look her up and down frantically. When he doesn’t see any obvious harm, he looks around and takes stock of the bodies of walkers strewn about the ground.

“Don’t worry, I took care of it.” She cocks her head to the side as he continues to look confused. “Why, surprised?” she asks lightly, a hint of jest in her tone.

He turns back to her and sees her trying to hold in a proud smile.

“I am too, to be honest,” she says, looking around at the carnage. She looks back at him, a worried expression returning to her face. “Please, say something, you’ve been out for a while.”

He starts to ease himself into a sitting position against the tree, as he turns his attention to his own body. Hands go up to his head when he remembers about the tree, and winces. “Think I’m okay.” Looks back toward the rag she’s holding, and notices it’s material she ripped from her shirt, and it’s now covered in his blood. 

She looks down at herself, subtly moving her arms to cover the part of her abdomen that now shows. “You were bleeding a lot, but didn’t have much to work with except water and…” gestures down at herself. She takes the water bottle and passes it to him. “You should drink something.”

He takes it, but doesn’t drink from it. “Glad you’re alright. Cain’t believe I wiped out like that. That I wasn’t paying attention. Don’t wanna think about what coulda happened.”

Carol nods to herself and moves to sit on the ground, relaxing now that he’s up and apparently okay. “Glad we’re both alright,” she says. She cracks a smile and his own lips tug before he winces again. Her smile turns into a frown. “Drink some of that water, I think you’re dehydrated on top of everything else.”

He only takes a sip before putting the bottle down. He tries to stand up, but starts to sway dangerously. She jumps up and moves forward but he waves her off. She stops with her hands in mid-air before bringing them back down and slowly sitting again, a little closer this time, disappointment clear on her face.

He pants for a bit, leaning against the tree, before giving up and sliding back down to the ground. “Sorry,” he says groggily, rubbing his temple. “I dunno…. just…bein’ outta sorts like this… it’s kinda ‘mbarassing.”

She catches his eye at that, before rolling her eyes. “Now you know how I feel, like, all the time.” 

He huffs that that. She waits a moment, then moves closer, taking up the water bottle and opening it to put it towards his mouth. When he turns his head away, she sighs angrily, and looks at him pointedly, eyebrow cocked. “Hey. Taking care of people is something I’m actually good at. Let me feel helpful for once.” She raises the bottle to his mouth again. “Please? You’re killing me.”

He grunts before finally accepting the offered water. She relaxes a bit and settles in next to him by the tree.

“You ain’t a burden, ya know?” He says suddenly, and she turns to look at him, but he’s got his eyes closed. “And ya did good here.” He cracks one eye open to catch hers. “Thanks.”

She smiles, but he’s already closed his eyes again. She pulls the pack closer. “Here, why don’t you lay back down? There’s a while before sundown, and a knock like that needs proper rest.” 

He shakes his head but grimaces at the movement. “Nah. Gotta get back. Not gonna leave ya alone to protect us.” 

Daryl tries to move again, but is stilled by Carol’s palm on his shoulder. He meets her gaze and sees her looking serious.

“I know this is hard for you, but... I hope you know I do have your back. And maybe one day I’ll have your trust, too.” She pulls her hand back to her lap and smirks. “Besides, you’re the one that taught me how to shoot, how to fight. Hope you’d have a little more faith in your teaching skills.” 

He snorts at that. “All right,” he mumbles, shifting to lie on the pack on the ground and closing his eyes. “Maybe just one hour.”

With Carol watching out for him, he falls quickly into a restful sleep.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The journey carrying her up from the tombs to safety feels like an eternity.

When they finally arrive at their cell block, there’s nobody there. He starts to panic, because in --what he realistically knows has only been-- the few minutes since finding her, Carol’s stopped being responsive. Trying not to jostle her, he rushes them as quickly as he can into her cell, where he lays her down gently in the bottom bunk.

She still doesn’t move.

His heart rate manages to speed up even more than it had before. Would be just his luck to find her just to lose her all over again.

Daryl holds his breath as he leans over cautiously and fumbles to find her pulse. After a moment, he feels it, light but consistent. 

He heaves a sigh of relief and slumps onto the side of the bed next to her, counting his breaths as he considers his next move. 

Thinks of what Carol would do.

He glances at her, then quickly but quietly runs out of the cell, returning a minute later with water and a granola bar. Sits back down on the bed and takes out his handkerchief. He puts some of the water on it, then moves the open water bottle to the floor and leans over, pausing before gently tapping her shoulder. “Carol?”

She stirs a bit but doesn’t open her eyes. He sighs anxiously, and uses the wet handkerchief to start cleaning the blood and dirt from her face. After a few seconds, her eyes flutter open.

“There ya are,” he says softly. He moves the handkerchief to the side and reaches down for the water bottle. “Can ya sit up?”

She groans, but starts to push herself up and he reaches over to help settle her with her back against the wall behind the bunk. Brings the water up to her lips and helps her tilt back to drink some. 

“Thanks,” she croaks, slowly taking the bottle from his hand. “I got it.” She continues to drink from it as he turns away from her, hanging his head. 

“Thought you was dead.”

Carol lowers the water bottle. “I thought I was too.” She nudges his back with her knee and he raises his head to look at her. “But I had faith you’d still find me.”

He shakes his head, and looks back down. “Shoulda found ya sooner.”

“I’m here now, thanks to you.” She closes her eyes and breathes in deeply before they snap back open. “Where is everyone else? They all okay?” She wipes at her eyes as they immediately start to tear up. “T-Dog… he died trying to save me.” 

Daryl turns to her, waiting a beat before raising his hand and gently placing it beside her leg on the bed. “I know.” He looks out towards the hallway, but doesn’t see or hear anyone. Wanting to bide time before telling her the truth, he says “The others will be back soon. Hershel should look at ya.”

She tries to sit up further at that. “No really, I’m fine. Just dehydrated. Be back up and running in an hour or so.”

He scoffs and turns back towards her. “You don’t always have to be the one taking care o’ people, ya know?” he says gruffly. “S’all right if you’re the one that needs it.” 

Her eyes drop at this, and he sighs, softening his approach. “Although I’m starting to think you’re indestructible,” he says. “You’re like... a cat.”

She snorts. “A cat?”

The side of his mouth lifts as he meets her eyes. “Yeah, ya know… nine lives or somethin’.”

She smirks at that. “I’ll take it.” 

They hear a commotion in the hall. Daryl gets up and heads to the door before stopping and turning his head towards her. 

“Sounds like they’re back. They’ll be really glad to see you.”

She smiles at him and his heart speeds up all over again. “Daryl… thanks, again.”

He nods, grinning, before he’s out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> While I was mapping out my ideas for this series, I realized pretty much everything could fall under this “taking care” theme, since, well, they’re always taking care of each other. But then I got ahead of myself and decided to keep the stories broken up, while continuing to zigzag through time to show parallels and repetitions. For example, there’s an easter egg in here for anyone who read “saved”, as it’s my headcannon that Daryl learns how to comfort/generally interact with humans by absorbing how Carol does it throughout the years.   
> Alright, thanks for reading, and if you’re enjoying this series, just know that I’m REALLY excited for the next story in it : )


End file.
